Whole Foods and Trader Joe's are both great places to food shop, and are stocked with unique food items. As with any kind of shopping, though, it pays to compare prices against other stores. EatingWell tracked down the best deals at Whole Foods and at Trader Joe's compared to local groceries and supermarket chains such as Stop & Shop, Safeway, and Wegmans, and this is what they found.

For Trader Joe's, cheese is a great value and there's a very good selection at this discount, neighborhood grocery store. Food staples, like Trader Giotto's Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (more than $3 cheaper for a litre than elsewhere) and wild rice (more than $6 cheaper per pound) are also a good bet. And the $1.99 Two-Buck Chuck wine is perhaps the best deal Trader Joe's is known for.

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For fresh, local produce, however, you have to be a bit pickier, the article says, when shopping at Trader Joe's, where the produce can not only sell for more but also not look as good.

The opposite is true for Whole Foods, where local fruits and vegetables are one of the best deals:

On a recent trip to my Whole Foods I found local organic carrots ($1.29/pound*) and potatoes ($4.99/5-pound bag) for the same price as nonlocal organic ones at the supermarket down the street.

Conventional fruits and vegetables, however, are pricier.

Sustainable seafood is another good bet at Whole Foods—with frozen haddock and frozen wild sockeye salmon $2/pound less than at a local supermarket according to the writer's price check.